It turns out that a lot, even when the blooms are past their prime. I love the metallic sheen of that green fly. I would love to have a car like that.
©rq, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
It turns out that a lot, even when the blooms are past their prime. I love the metallic sheen of that green fly. I would love to have a car like that.
©rq, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
As usual, I’m late to the party. I know that Spider Week at Affinity is over, but Jack and I went to Terracotta Park for our walk today and we came across a lovely big web that I wanted to share. If you want to see the long legged beauty who did all the intricate work it’s under the fold.
©voyager, all rights reserved
It’s time for another chapter in Ice Swimmer’s series Harakka – an Island. Thanks again Ice Swimmer. Now, take us away…
Fireweed behind the laboratory, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
We come back from the shore and take a closer look at the fireweed behind the Artists’ Building, the former laboratory. [Read more…]
More juvenile barn swallows from Nightjar
Feeeeeed meeeeeee
©Nightjar
©Nightjar
Second in this series from rq are plants growing in a bog. I hope she did not get too wet trying to get these pictures for us. They are beautiful and they do illustrate the biodiversity of an acidic bog nicely. There is even a predator here, hidden bellow the fold.
©rq, all rights reserved. Click for full size.
Possibly a plant from the Cyperaceae family
Calluna vulgaris
Calluna vulgaris
Vaccinium vitis-idaea L
Vaccinium vitis-idaea L
©voyager, all rights reserved
It was raining this morning so Jack and I went to Terracotta Park, hoping the canopy would help keep us dry. It did, more or less, but we still came home with wet hair and feet. Oh well, it was a good excuse to make hot chocolate, curl up together on the sofa and share a few maple cookies.
Sumac flower, ©voyager, all rights reserved
This is sumac and it grows wild just about everywhere in this part of the world. It fills the ditches lining our highways and roads and it’s a nuisance plant in gardens. It’s very hardy and once it gets growing it’s hard to stop. We had one park itself right next to the foundation of our house a few years ago and we just can’t get rid of it. Every year we cut it down only to find it sprouting again in a few weeks. We tried to dig it out once, but the roots were too plentiful and too deep and the next year it popped up again. I poured bleach on it one year and watched it die back and then watched it grow back the following year. As I said, very hardy. Despite my dislike for the sumac living at my house, I do think it’s a pretty plant and enjoy seeing them when driving. In the fall the leaves turn beautiful bright colours, mostly red, but with touches of yellow and orange. It’s one of the first plants to get its autumn colour on and it’s a sure sign that the big trees will be changing colour soon.
This little fellow at the Barcelona Zoo was obviously torn between wanting a swim and actually doing it.
©Giliell, all rights reserved, click for full size.
Open to see the photo story.
We’re on to chapter 4 of Ice Swimmer’s series, Harakka, an Island and today we’re heading toward the water. I’m always drawn to big, open water and these photos show off the sea beautifully. I’ll let Ice Swimmer fill you in on the details.
The western shore of Harakka is visible from Uunisaari and one conversation with Nightjar in the comments of a posting with a picture of Harakka from Uunisaari sparked the idea to go and explore the island.
1. Open Sea in the Southwest, ©Ice Swimmer all rights reserved
There is a path from near the northwestern corner of the Artists’ Building to the other side of the earthworks behind the building. The path leads to cliffs on the western shore of Harakka. When looking southwest from the path one can see some islands, but also open sea.
In early summer we shovelled about 1.200 kg of pebbles into the gap between the front yard and the house.
One of the secrets is to wash them and make them wet or you’ll suffocate, and also, wet pebbles are just too pretty. I proudly announce that I did not put any of them into my mouth.
©Giliell, all rights reserved, click for full size.
More below the fold
It’s time for the next chapter of Ice Swimmer’s series, Harraka – An island. Thanks again, Ice Swimmer. I’ll let you take it from here
1. Main Door, Former FDF Building, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The building is from 1928 and it used to belong to Finnish Defence Forces and nowadays it is used by artists who can hire studio space for five years at a time there. This is the main entrance.
2. The building and the Birch, © all rights reserved
There is a big birch next to the building.
3. Rusty Ring, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
A ring fixed into bedrock next to the building. As for the picture, Caine was definitely an influence for me in this kind of photography.
4. Corner, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
We’re going around the building. This is the northwestern back corner.
5. Backyard and Fireweed, ©Ice Swimmer all rights reserved
There was a lot of fireweed in bloom on the island. Now we’re in the backyard of the Artists’ Building, looking at earthworks built when Harakka was partially fortified.
6. Tractor, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The little tractor is probably used for hauling various things.
7. Chemistry Equipment, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights re
The building was used by the FDF as a chemical laboratory. For that reason, while there were plenty of wild raspberries, strawberries and other berries growing on the island, tasting them didn’t feel too attractive. The building is actually the third site for the FDF Chemical Laboratory. At first, the laboratory was in downtown Helsinki, in the same building that housed the University of Helsinki Chemistry Department and after that in one of the garrisons in Helsinki before it was moved to the island.
8. Whose Island part II, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
The ratio of shoes / webbed feet is fairly small.
9. Birch stump, ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved
At the southwestern corner of the building, there used to be a birch.
Now we have seen the building used by military chemists and subsequently artists and some of its surroundings. Next, we’ll go a back, a bit south in the backyard of the building.
(link to previous post, Harakka an Island: Chapter 2)
Terracotta Park, Pointe Claire, Quebec ©voyager, all rights reserved
This photo was taken in a place called Terracotta Natural Park and it’s right in the heart of Pointe Claire. It’s a huge park (almost 100 acres) with lots of connecting and well maintained trails. It’s one of Jack’s favorite places to go, but unlike our woods at home I won’t allow my boy off-leash here because of the threat of coyotes. We’ve never seen one ourselves, but there are signs posted at every entrance to the park advising extreme caution and noting that they’ve been spotted in the area. My husband grew up near the park and we’ve been taking our dogs to it for about 15 years and this is the first time we’ve seen such warnings. That probably means there’s an established population of coyotes. And why not? The park is exactly like their natural environment and it’s filled with their natural prey plus it has the added bonus of human leavings. As their environments shrink or die all animals, including large predators, will move ever closer to populated areas just trying to eke out a life and avoid extinction. I think they have as much right to the land as we do. Maybe more. At least they’re not destroying the planet.
Milkweed, ©voyager, all rights reserved
Jack and I are having a better day today. It’s still humid, but the temp plummeted overnight and today it’s a reasonable 22 º. We actually went for a real walk around the neighbourhood this morning and just down the street we found a front garden full of milkweed. When I was young I used to love pulling the pods apart and playing with the silk and it was awfully tempting to pluck one today. Instead, I took this photo, but the desire is strong and I cannot guarantee that I won’t pick one later.
